My BMI hovers around 37-38.

I have slightly high cholesterol and sleep apnea, but my PCP does not support this surgery. She wants me to try diet and exercise AGAIN!

Does anyone have a supportive PCP that they would recommend?

I had a very unsupportive PCP. What I did to get him to do my bidding i.e. write my surgical referral and support letter was to bring him a packet of lap band research and a list of participating surgeons in the city. I proved to him that not only was I serious about having surgery but that I did the research and knew the risks.

He was nonplussed to say the least. But you bet I walked out of there with my referral and when the time came for my support letter I was on his ass like a deer tick. I didnt ask him what I should do I told him what I was gonna do. Remove the option of telling you no.

Moral of the story...he/she works for you and can only stand in your way if you allow them to. He/she is recommending the diet and exercise exclusively, let him/her know that you will most likely have to do a 6month diet and weight in before you can have surgery anyway. So you will indeed do the diet and exercise, while you move forward with the banding process.

Why don't you ask for a referral for the name of an internist from the surgeon's office.

i was considering that, but the women who deals with the patients seemed overwhelmed and less than helpful.

i was hoping to avoid her as long as i can.

plus, i would rather hear from actual patients, to be honest.

I have a great dr that recommends the surgery highly. He is great and really nice. His staff is a bit nasty but its worth it b/c he is sooo nice. e-mail me and I can give you name and phone number.

Dr, Eric Sherman - Concord Medical Group - 404 Park Ave South NYC. I can't understand why they would be against it. If you decide that going through SURGERY is worth it - after all it's your body - who are they to say no. Just say you can't function anymore doing day to day things BECAUSE of the extra weight you are carrying. Say you have tried everything else and after extensive research you decided that this is worth the risk. BTW I also had a BMI of 37-38 and could not exist being overweight anymore. I spoke to a good friend who had the surgery 6 years ago and she said just gain enough weight to have a BMI of 40 so your insurance will cover it. I thought she was nuts but she said that it will be worth it. It took a few more months of misery (and trying to diet etc.) until I realized this is not something I could do on my own anymore. I gained the weight - actually went to a BMI of 41 and had the surgery. That was 10 months ago and I have lost 102 pound and would do it all over again. Good luck!

first of all, congratulations on the weight loss!

secondly, thanks for the info! he takes my insurance too, which is great!

i know i will be hitting 40 BMI in the next year unless i do something drastic at this point, so i am getting a little frustrated.

i just cannot live like this any more and i definitely cannot afford to pay for this surgery on my own.

i love love love my doctor and she is very supportive of surgery. if you still need info PM me and i'll give you her name and number.

I had great luck with my Dr, I had only seen him a few times and told him that I wanted the surgery. He immediately asked me what did I need. From him, he knew what he needed to do but I guess he was just testing to see how serious I was about it.

He did kinda leave me in limbo towards the end, by leaving his practice but at least I got all I needed from him by then.

Crazy! My doctor was fine with it...he even said he thought I might be a good thing for me...he was so supportive! I feel so lucky to have great doctors!